


The Ghost Affair

by rexlover180



Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Genre: Ghosts, Halloween, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 08:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4912375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexlover180/pseuds/rexlover180
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scientists have been disappearing across the United States and it has come to the attention of U.N.C.L.E. Gaby, Napoleon, and Illya go to investigate a rather suspicious college and, while investigating, discover concerning rumors about a ghost running loose around campus. Could this just be a tick or is a ghost really involved?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

His own breathing in his ears was deafening, made it impossible to hear those damn footsteps behind him, following him. He didn’t know where they were. The blood pumping through his veins was going too fast, made him dizzy. He wasn’t meant for running around, he was meant for desk work!

He all but slammed into a wall as he stumbled through a turn, his hands heavily scraped, but he kept going. He had to get out, there had to be a way out of this god forsaken tunnel! He was wheezing now and knew he couldn’t run for much further without injuring himself. He took another turn wrong, his own feet stumbling against one another as he came crashing to the ground. He gasped, trying to crawl away, but he could faintly hear them. Over his breathing and his own pulse. They were so close! He couldn’t get away in time!

He saw the gas first, faintly illuminated in the torch light, and tried to still his breathing. He knew that at the rate he was panting, he’d only be affected sooner. But he gasped for breath all the same, the gas filling his lungs. The world faded to black in a matter of seconds.

He could still clearly hear the eerie laughter.

* * *

Napoleon relaxed, hands laced behind his head as he leaned back in his luxurious seat. He had his eyes closed in an attempt for some shut-eye, knowing full well he wouldn’t get much on this new mission Waverly had given them. It was sure to be difficult, but for now he could easily relax on his plane ride with the help of some on-board drinks to keep him company. Not to mention all of the gorgeous flight attendants that loved to pay him attention. He would be sure to leave them plenty of tips on behalf of the CIA.

He took pleasure in the fact that Illya and Gaby were coming on different planes. Yes, their company was nice, but exhausting after a certain time. As much as he would love to see Illya be stuffed in business class, he was fine waiting to see him at the university.

Right, the university…

Napoleon sighed, opening his eyes as he regarded the scattered papers on the tray in front of him, beside his empty class that was in desperate need of being refilled. He still had to memorize some of the facts, but he knew the basics. Recently, there was a string of scientists focused on the field of nuclear energy that had ‘gone missing’ across America. In reality, they had admitted to going on a vacation, a cruise. Every single one of them had the same story. A cruise in the Caribbean, leaving behind their loved ones. They said the boat they were going to was called the _Collegiate_.

Strangely enough, all of these disappearances happened at different times over the past year. To make matters all the more strange, there were multiple witnesses of seeing these missing scientists at a certain university in the Midwest. The same university Napoleon, Gaby, and Illya were staking out together.

Napoleon was undercover as a new professor, Gaby as a new student coming from Germany, and Illya, amusingly enough, was working as a part of cleaning staff. His pride wouldn’t allow him to show it, but he had been rather offended at the very idea of being cleaning staff. Their job was simply to look around and investigate. There was no true link between these events, but there was a chance the missing scientists could be there. As long as there was a chance, they had to do their job.

In a short matter of time, the plane had landed and Napoleon left with his single brief case, giving a polite nod to every flight attendant he passed. He bought himself a rental car and made the pleasant trip to the university on his own. It was a few weeks into the semester, but Waverly hadn’t seemed to have many problems getting him a job.

As he walked into the main administration building, he couldn’t help but smile a little. It wasn’t often he got to be on home soil for a mission. He usually went to other countries, not like he minded, but it was still nice to be home every now and then. He could easily relax and speak English to everyone he met without a second thought, wondering if he would have to use some of the many language skills he’d picked up on in his travels.

He walked through the building, easily finding the correct office he was looking for, stopping to offer the beautiful secretary his best smile.

“Hello, sir,” the secretary nodded politely to him. “Do you have business with the dean?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded curtly. “My name is Dr. Henry Jacobs, I’m here about the job this fine institution has just offered me.”

“I will send a page to the dean right away,” she nodded curtly and Napoleon smiled right back to her. Not even her make up could hide the small blush at the attention and Napoleon noticed she didn’t have a wedding ring on… Maybe…

His attention was diverted as two professors walked by with coffee and papers in hand.

“I heard a few girls saw it in the locker rooms,” one professor said simply, the smile on his face nearly contagious. They were talking like this was some top-secret rumor.

“I heard some of the lads in the chemistry labs saw it,” the other one nodded resolutely. “Said it was breaking beakers, causing all sorts of spills.”

“The girls said there were no windows open, but a cool breeze came by, absolutely messed up their hair,” the first continued, as if trying to one-up him.

“You know what I heard?” the other continued. “Jones said he was alone in his classroom and the chalk came up and wrote by itself on the board. He heard the scratching, but when he turned around it already wrote the words ‘GO AWAY’.”

“You’re joshing,” the first rolled his eyes, shoving the other with his elbow.

Napoleon raised a brow out of curiosity, but the secretary was already leading him to the dean. Well, he’d just have to investigate _that_ a little later.

* * *

Gaby had somewhat enjoyed the long flight from Norway to the States. Sure, it was long, but she had a chance to drink and glance at poor Illya, who seemed positively squished in his seat, next to a rather old woman who would not stop talking, no matter how much Illya wanted to sleep. It was rather sweet.

But the flight was over and, after a cab ride to the university and a short tour from some overly excited student, she was sitting in a lecture hall, trying and failing to pay attention as the professor droned on about some battle of World War I she couldn’t care to listen to. She drummed her fingers against her leg, hoping to find something of interest. This job seemed rather interesting, missing people, random circumstances…a chance to actually be in the States…it was quite nice. Now she just wished that she could do her job. Sure, there were times between classes and after classes she could investigate, but she was antsy _now_.

She could hear hushed whispers behind her and turned her attention that direction. It was a boy and a girl, eagerly whispering about what sounded like some dangerous rumor.

“Darcy said she saw it in the hallway late at night,” the girl whispered eagerly. “Just about scared the dickens out of her. It looked right at her, with all the smoke everyone talks about.”

“Everyone knows she tells lies just to seem cool,” the boy scoffed. “What’d she say the apparition was like? Jacob said he saw it in a mirror! White hair, black eyes, pale skin, blood seeping from its mouth.”

“That’s hardly any talk for a place like this, Marcus,” the girl said, her voice trembling. Gaby glanced back curiously. Were they talking about a ghost? Could there possibly be a ghost in this university? Gaby blinked at the thought. There was no way…ghosts weren’t…real, were they? She shook her head. She had to focus on the mission at hand! Couldn’t be distracted by simple ghost stories!

After that lecture was over, she had a short break between classes and so she decided for something simple, not very obvious. A library. If a bunch of missing scientists were here, they’d either be there or in a laboratory. This way she could make it seem as though she was studying. Unlike Napoleon and Illya, she couldn’t quite memorize faces and pictures, but she had to make do with what she remembered.

She kept an eye peeled, looking at everyone she passed for a sign of familiarity. After a few minutes, she ducked into an alley of shelves, pretending to glance through the books. She heard another hushed conversation between two girls.

“I saw it, I swear! I was going through the laboratory late at night for…extra credit work with my professor-”

“Why, are you sure it was extra credit work?” the other girl giggled. Gaby rolled her eyes.

“This is serious,” the first girl pressed. “When I went down, all of the tables started shaking, the beakers exploded, test tubes flew to the ground, and I saw her! The white hair, black eyes, the blood!”

“Calm down, Mary!” the other girl scoffed. “You know as well as I do that ghosts aren’t real. Don’t let what all of those boys are saying get to your head.”

“I know what I saw,” the first girl, Mary, sighed heavily. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll just go tell someone else.”

Gaby hummed as she left, glancing around the library. Students and professors were littered around, papers in front of them, pencils hard at work. Just what she expected a university to be like. There was even a crowd of boys in their sports jackets laughing their asses off in a corner. Gaby sighed as she continued to look around, hopefully not looking too suspicious. Those conversations really had her interest. Even as she walked around the library, she could hear bits and pieces of conversations about this ghost.

She shivered slightly at the idea. Ghosts definitely weren’t real, just something to scare movie goers, but she’d seen and heard enough to make the idea of a ghost seem rather…frightening. She felt slightly comforted while, as she was looking around, she could see Illya, who was being guided around by a veteran janitor. They caught each other’s eye for a moment, a reassuring nod, and then Gaby was back on her way, confident enough to go through to her next class.

* * *

Illya did not enjoy being a janitor. He disliked the idea of working in menial labor in the first place. He had worked enough to be beyond that, but regardless he had to deal with the hand he had been dealt. He just couldn’t allow himself to get too angry about these idiotic kids and how _that trash can was two damn feet away_. The people he worked with were kind enough, and good humored enough to try to include him in conversations.

They were taking a break, playing cards in a large closet at a little table they had set up. Illya had voluntarily stayed standing, glancing at the students and professors that walked by while still listening to the conversation at hand.

“You’ve heard about the ghost lady, right?” one of them asked.

“That one all them girls are talking about?” another one scoffed. “I’ve never seen it.”

“Oh, I have,” another one chimed. “They say she’s got pure white hair, eyes black as coal, and blood flowing from her mouth!”

“I don’t believe it,” the first one shrugged and Illya shook his head. Ghosts…what a foolish concept. When a soul was laid to rest, that was where it stayed. Damn Hollywood and their necessity to make horror movies recently. Now the trend seemed to be catching on, even in an educational institution. “But…I was cleaning around late at night in one of those labs, and some of those glass beakers seemed to almost fly off the shelf, shatter at my feet.”

“You must’ve been too drunk,” the second snorted.

“What about you, new guy?” the first asked with a smirk and Illya regarded them carefully. “You believe in ghosts?”

“No,” Illya said easily. “The dead sleep soundly, always have.”

The lights flickered above them and Illya sighed. Considering he was the tallest of the four, he may have to be the one to change the bulb. Then, all of a sudden, the light shone so bright that Illy had to look away. And then the bulb burst.

“Looks like you made her angry,” the third janitor chuckled, but there was unease in his voice.

“There is no ghost,” Illya shook his head, looking up at where the light had been. “Where are the bulbs to fix that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so all of you know, this entire thing was written while watching 60s horror flicks. They’re hilarious, so I don’t mind, they’re amazing. And I did do a lot of research, trust me. Did you know that the Soviet Union didn’t make a single horror movie through to the 60s? They made a god damn romantic comedy in the 30s but not a single horror movie. I’m disappointed. I also did research and, yes, you could see Hollywood movies behind the Iron Curtain, you just had to try a little harder. I think it’s perfectly plausible Gaby has seen horror movies.
> 
> Anyway, welcome to my new Halloween story! Halloween is my life, so you’ll probably seen a lot from me this October. I’m super stoked for this, ever since I came up with the story line! They’re going in to act as spies and yet all of this supernatural activity is going on? What could possibly be happening?
> 
> Also, I’m going to pull from my inner Guy Richie here. No strict pairings here, but I’ll bait the hell out of Gallya and Napollya for shits and gigs. Partly to see if I can take it, partly because it’s fun for people to suffer. If you want to take it as one ship or the other, I’m not gonna stop you, that’s entirely your own decision.
> 
> Anywho, that’s all for now, I hope you’re enjoying so far!


	2. Chapter 2

It had been decided that, at the end of the day, they would all meet at Napoleon’s apartment. They planned on being there for no longer than a day or two, but they had to look realistic from the outside. Staying in a hotel didn’t necessarily make it seem like they would be around for a while. Illya dreaded going to the apartment he’d been given to match his cover story. Napoleon, as always, lived lavishly and loved every damn minute of it. Illya, however, had the cover of someone with not a lot of money and a shitty apartment.

Illya had gotten off of work rather late, and so he was the last to come into the apartment, which Napoleon and foolishly left unlocked. Or perhaps it had done it on purpose, one could never tell. When he walked in, he could hear Napoleon and Gaby laughing from the small kitchen. He didn’t bother trying to be quiet as he joined them. Napoleon noticed him first and Gaby took in his presence, swiftly turning around with a glass in hand. There was still a little vodka left in it that Illya could see.

“I see you two relax easily,” Illya sighed. They must not have gotten much news either. Otherwise, a plan would have already been in place.

“Don’t be so grouchy,” Napoleon smirked, holding a glass of what was most likely scotch. “Drink?”

“No, I am fine,” Illya shook his head. “Did you two get information?”

“Just a lot on this ghost everyone keeps seeing,” Napoleon shrugged. “They say she…moves glasses, screams, you can see her in mirrors.”

“I heard the same,” Illya nodded.

“A lot of girls in my literature class seemed rather frightened by it,” Gaby said. “I think some of them are making up the stories. Others…I’m not so sure about.”

“What is there not to be sure about?” Illya scoffed. “Ghosts do not exist.”

“Oh, come on, Peril, it’s just a little fun,” Napoleon laughed. “Like all of those films …uh…’13 Ghosts’, ‘Carnival of Souls’, you know.”

“Please stop talking,” Gaby shivered.

“You two are ridiculous,” Illya sighed, turning to go into the living room of the apartment to sit on the couch. He had to run though the small details of the day, see if there was anything that could possibly link this nearly unknown school to the disappearance of well-known scientists. Nothing really came to mind, aside from perhaps the ghost being seen mostly around the science areas.

“Were you really able to see American movies behind the Iron Curtain?” Napoleon asked curiously.

“You just need to find the right theaters,” Gaby smirked as she came into the living room, sitting beside Illya. “And you have to be clever.” Illya sighed. There was a chance that this ghost farce could be linked to the disappearances, a distraction of sorts. Napoleon walked in after, his glass of scotch refilled. Illya noticed that Gaby had left behind her own glass.

“And you went to see horror movies?” Napoleon jested.

“Not the best choice, I admit,” Gaby nodded. “It’s enough I’m hearing all of these stories about ghosts, you don’t need to tell me about all of those other movies. People died in those movies, you know!”

“Well, yes, that’s how a ghost is made, generally,” Napoleon smirked and Gaby threw a pillow at him. He caught it easily.

“We should focus on why we are here,” Illya said clearly. “Not on some silly college story. Half of them do not match up, it is for attention.”

“Yeah, there can’t really be ghosts on campus,” Gaby rolled her eyes. “Did you find anything, Illya?”

“Nothing useful,” Illya shook his head.

“It’s worth looking into tonight,” Napoleon nodded thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a look around. Who knows, maybe we’ll see this mysterious ghost after all.”

“Please stop joking around,” Gaby sighed.

“The most we will see will be kidnapped scientists,” Illya assured her as Napoleon shrugged, taking a sip.

“Or maybe their ghosts,” Napoleon winked.

* * *

They went to the school around one in the morning, all from different sides with the hopes of meeting in the middle of campus, where the main building stood proudly with the science labs. Napoleon started on the humanities end, Illya with the athletics complex, and Gaby with the arts building.

Napoleon kept his pistol in a location easy for him to reach just in case he ran into any trouble. As far as he could tell, there was nothing to make this campus seem suspicious. He broke into nearly every room he passed, looked for any secrets, and continued on when he found none. He smirked when he realized that a certain Professor Jones he had met earlier seemed to be cheating on his wife, leaving letters from his mistress at his desk.

He was nearly done searching after about an hour. He picked the lock to the last room he was going to search, a break room for the professors. After that, he could look around the walkways before starting to search the science buildings. As he entered the room, however…something didn’t quite seem right. It was freezing, but there were no windows to let in a draft. He could feel the breeze, though…Interesting.

He looked through the small fridge the professors kept, but all he found were a few moldy sandwiches. He checked under the table and frowned when he saw that the table was shaking. The few knick-knacks left on the table were making quite the clatter. Napoleon stood, looking at the table in interest. Strange…

The lights started flickering above him and he closed his eyes in surprise. The light had practically blinded him. Finally, they rested and he was left back in the dark, though he could hardly see quite as well as before. He shook his head, pulling out his gun. Someone was playing tricks on him, then?

The table stopped shaking and Napoleon huffed, shaking his head. If he had known any better, he would have thought that it could actually be the ghost he’d heard so much about. All he was missing was the apparition. After he stood still for a few minutes, however, it didn’t seem like anything was about to change. Everything was exactly like it was before, quiet as death around him. He was definitely alone.

Napoleon swiftly left the room, a small shiver going down his spine as he walked briskly to the exit of the building. He couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.

* * *

Gaby was…jumpy. She didn’t like the idea of ghosts. Sure, they weren’t…real, but that didn’t stop her from being paranoid. It didn’t help that the arts building had statues and paintings of people that scared her around every turn.

There was no ghost.

She nodded as she tried a knob. It was locked. She smirked. Time to see if those lessons with Napoleon were paying off yet. It took her a minute with the pick, sure, but she eventually managed to hear the _click_ and she easily pushed the door open. Perfect! She happily stepped into the room and started looking around. There were piles of boxes of supplies, but nothing behind or in them of value. Just regular art pieces. Some of them not very good, either…

She had made it mostly through the building in maybe an hour. One last room, then, what looked like a painting room, filled with easels and with a little table at one end holding a bowl of fruit. She snorted. She didn’t expect college to be so…cliché.

She looked around, staring at the empty easels as she walked further into the room. There wasn’t a single window, but it was so…cold. Gaby frowned as wind began to blow her hair around her face. No…No, there was no ghost and that was that.

A powerful gust of wind flew by her, knocking all of the easels down in loud clatters as the light turned on, blinding her for a moment. She stumbled backwards, holding back a small scream in order to keep her cover. She blinked, staring into the bright room. The bowl of fruit had fallen from the stool, but the wooden stool stayed standing. The only object in the room to stay still. Her mind flicked to the gun she was hiding, a small pistol strapped to her leg. No, no need for that yet.

The lights suddenly turned out and Gaby heard something like…footsteps coming from behind her. All there was there was a wall…

She ran out of that building as fast as her legs could carry her.

* * *

Illya sighed impatiently. This was seeming more and more like a waste of time. He calmly walked through the locker rooms, his footsteps rather loud in the quiet, echoing room. He looked through some of the lockers, as many as he cared to open. Nothing of interest anywhere. He glanced through the girl’s locker room, careful not to make it known that he was really there. Nothing to be seen.

When he glanced at the mirror, for a fraction of a second, he could have sworn that he had seen a different face, one that wasn’t his. White hair, black eyes…

He shook his head and continued out of the locker room. He could look through the work out rooms quickly and see if he could make it to the science rooms before the others. He didn’t want to have to deal with their ghost nonsense during this mission.

As he walked, Illya clearly felt a breeze go past him. But there wasn’t a single open window or door around him. Interesting… He walked into the exercise room, the state of the art equipment standing still in the twilight. He looked around for any kind of secret door, anything to give away any secrets…Once he reached the end of the room, he sighed. There was nothing to see here.

As he turned around, he heard familiar beeps as all of the machines around him turned on at once, the lights flickering on shortly afterwards. Was someone playing some kind of joke on him? It wasn’t very funny.

Illya continued to walk, regardless, and the machines turned off as he passed them. The lights turned off as well and Illya sighed. It certainly made it harder for him to see, which he did not appreciate. He was doing fine in the quiet, by himself. He hoped that it wasn’t Napoleon or Gaby who had played this joke on him or he would have to discipline them properly.

He made his way over to the science building easily, careful to make sure his footsteps were quiet. If that prankster wasn’t Napoleon or Gaby, there was a chance someone was following him. That much was obvious. They had to be careful with this ghost story, too. If they got too wrapped up on this…distraction, they might just fall for it. Something didn’t quite sit right with him.

As he walked into the science building, the response was instantaneous just as the door closed. The lights flashed on and some…thing screeched loudly all around him. Illya held onto his gun tightly as he could, walking forward. The screeching wasn’t stopping, but he could hear footsteps running for him. He ran in the opposite direction silently. It wouldn’t do for him to be seen so soon. He looked around for some place for him to hide, to make it seem like he was never there.

As he ran, he clearly saw Gaby running towards him, the look of fear clear in her eyes. No time to really think now. He hastily ran forward, his hand around her waist to guide her into the closest door, closing the door silently behind them. Gaby panted as quietly as she could in the darkness around them and Illya leaned closer to her, keeping his back to the door. Through the screeching, he clearly heard footsteps walk past them, two different pairs…

The screeching stopped and Gaby almost stopped breathing, but Illya put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She was shaking…He shook his head, holding her close. The footsteps were long gone now. Illya silently took stock of the area around them. A broom closet, one he’d used just the day before.

“It’s okay,” he said simply. “They’re gone.”

“There might really be a ghost here,” Gaby mumbled out, her voice a trembling mess.

“There is no such thing,” Illya said, fully aware of just how close they were standing. He was only just beginning to see well in the dark, but he couldn’t quite see her face very clearly. “I promise.”

“Okay,” Gaby let out a long breath. Illya soothed her back by running his hand along it, up and down.

The door opened behind them and Illya glanced back, tightening his grip on Gaby, ready to strike if he needed to.

“Thought I saw you two come in here,” Napoleon said easily behind them and Illya relaxed, turning around with a heavy sigh.

“Did you see who was there?” Illya asked.

“Didn’t see anyone,” Napoleon shook his head. “I went into a lecture hall to hide. You hear two pairs of footsteps?” Illya nodded.

“How could you two hear over that scream?” Gaby asked. All three of them walked into the now dark hallway. They kept their voices low, just in case.

“Looks like someone’s waiting for us or we have two ghosts on our hands,” Napoleon smirked, but Illya saw it waver just slightly, even in the dark. He couldn’t be seriously thinking there was a ghost, could he? “Did anything happen to either of you when you were alone? A table shook and the lights flickered for me.”

“The lights for me, too,” Gaby nodded. “And a gust of wind knocked down almost everything, but there weren’t any windows.”

“You two are ridiculous,” Illya shook his head. “There are no ghosts, it is a trick.”

“I want to agree with you,” Napoleon shook his head. “Let’s split up, take a look around the building. Make sure we do it carefully, too. If the scientists are at this school, it’s most likely they’re here.”

“A lot of the stories come from the labs as well,” Illya nodded. “If they intend to keep us out, it is for good reason.”

“Split up,” Gaby nodded slowly. “Okay, fine.”

“You will be fine,” Illya nodded. “I’ll be nearby if you need me.”

There was no such thing as ghosts and he damn well was going to prove it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much research. Like, I have no idea what a 1960s college campus looks like, what they do. I’m just sort of guessing with the little bit of research I have. Anyway, it really does seem like there’s a ghost here, doesn’t there? Illya’s not having any of it, though. I imagine Napoleon as the kind of person that likes horror movies, but only when they’re make believe and in theaters. Gaby, meanwhile, is the kind of person that knows how to swallow her fear when she has to in order to get shit done. Illya just doesn’t really get scared, just angry.
> 
> Anyway, see you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Alone again, Napoleon felt a little more on edge than before. As cool as his exterior was, this ghost business had him nervous. Ghost were…fantasy, they weren’t real. But the more things that happened in this damn school, the more Napoleon found himself questioning that. If a ghost was real, what was he to do? He couldn’t shoot it, couldn’t fight it, could only run and hope that it didn’t hurt him. He really didn’t like the sound of that…

He shook his head. He had to focus. This was about the scientists that had gone missing, that was what he had to be focused on. He crouched as he walked through what looked like a chemistry lab. There were beakers here and there, equipment littered around. He had to leave no stone unturned, however. He had to really look, see if there was anything. Hell, even a trap door would work. He looked through all of the cabinets, rummaged around. It was perfectly silent around him. Almost eerie…

He shivered at a cold that he had only just noticed and glanced around. No window was open…He shook his head once again. No ghost stories, stay focused. He combed through all of the details, all of the tiny objects he could see, just to be sure. They had plenty of time until morning, they could look through his place as long as they needed to.

The cold grew more intense, Napoleon found his hands shaking. He frowned, rubbing his hands together in hopes that the gloves would create friction. This was ridiculous. There were no ghosts, someone was trying to trick him, right? That had to be it.

As Napoleon stood up straight after going through the professor’s desk, he noticed the smoke. Like fog, rolling along the floor, coming from the door. He looked around in panic. None of the windows were open…

He strode to the window, seeing if he could pry one open just in case. But it was jammed. He abandoned it, going for another. It was jammed as well. All of the windows he tried were jammed. He looked back at the fog, which had rolled across the entirety of the floor. This gave him a terrible feeling. Ghost or no ghost.

He moved towards the door, but he stopped when a rather large plume of smoke burst in front of it and he stumbled backwards, drawing his gun. That was when he saw it.

What looked like a girl, deathly pale with snow white hair, black eyes, what looked like blood dripping from her mouth. Napoleon was stunned into silence, his hands shaking both from cold and fear. His breaths came raggedly as he saw the world swirl around him. He fumbled with the gun as it slipped from his fingers. He clearly remembered seeing the girl move towards him as the ground rushed towards him.

* * *

Gaby didn’t like this. Not at all. It was too dark, too quiet. She almost wanted something to happen. Someone to jump out and scare her. That was something she could fight, sure. That was something she knew existed. But all of these stories of ghosts and what was happening around her made her…scared. But Napoleon and Illya were both in the same building. All she needed to do was scream and they’d both probably come running. Not like she was going to scream… She wasn’t that weak, she could handle this herself. All of those lessons with both of her spy friends had to pay off, certainly. How to fight, how to hide, how to pick locks, everything.

They taught her all of this so that she could handle herself just fine on her own. And she had faith in those skills.

She started looking through a storage room of sorts. It was piled with boxes of equipment, chemicals, anything. But she couldn’t find anything. She rummaged as quietly as she possibly could. She didn’t bother trying to differentiate between the chemicals and equipment, rather she focused solely on seeing if there were secrets. Anything out of the ordinary. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness again, which was rather comforting, but she still couldn’t shake that feeling in the back of her head. The feeling that told her something just wasn’t quite right.

Once she was finished, she turned back to the door she’d left open, only to have it slam in her face as she got close. She jumped back slightly, staring at the door for a short while. All he could hear was her own breathing. She nodded slowly, taking careful hold of the doorknob, before cautiously opening the door. No one was in sight anywhere. She sighed, shaking her hands as a way to ‘shake away the fear’, in a way.

There was no ghost. It was a…a trick or something. Right. No ghost here…

She rubbed her hands together, only just noticing how cold it really was. Again, no open windows anywhere to be seen. It was times like this when Gaby wished she had one of those trackers or whatever to know exactly where Napoleon and Illya were, maybe even talk to them through their gadgets. She had to talk to them about that kind of stuff.

She continued on her way, going to the next door. What looked like a lab…She tried the knob, but it was locked. She set to work picking the lock, but she found that…it was stuck…

There must be something important in there…but she couldn’t make any big noises, just in case someone really was looking around for them. She had to stay secretive and…

She heard footsteps and immediately dove back to the supply closet, but kept the door open just a crack, just to see who was walking by…

* * *

Illya found comfort in the silence. A chance to sort through his thoughts and be at peace. He looked through everything carefully, room after room. He worked quickly and efficiently making sure not to leave anything unseen. If they were keeping scientists here in secret, they would have a secret room, an unused room, perhaps even a trap door, though that was unlikely.

He went into a new room, a lab that seemed to be meant for physics, with little contraptions set up around the room to show the effects of gravity. He didn’t pay them much thought as he looked around, keeping the door slightly ajar just in case. He was acutely aware of the cold that seemed to infuse the room as he continued his search. He’d dealt with worse, but this took him by surprise.

He clearly heard the click of the door closing and he tensed. Through the crack, he could see smoke rolling in, some kind of gas most likely. Whoever was responsible for this, he would have to find them soon. First, though…

He tried to open the windows, but they wouldn’t even budge. His fingers, even though they were covered with gloves, were stiff from the cold. It was hard for him to really get a grip on the windows in the first place. He frowned. This was strange. The room, along with the chill, had also been accompanied by this…strange feeling. Like he was being watched. He didn’t doubt it. He swiftly walked over to try the door, but he found himself stumbling. He all but slammed into a table.

He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. This had to be the fault of the smoke.

He heard the screech of the ‘ghost’ again and flinched. Anything made of glass in the room broke, seeming to fly off the shelves towards him. Thankfully his clothes saved him from bad scratches of glass. His legs struggled to keep him up. He looked to the door, finding a rather large plume of smoke before it. He fell to the ground before he could even focus on the figure in front of him.

* * *

Gaby peered through the crack, watching as she heard footsteps…along with…dragging? She bit her lip and eventually, saw a man. An unfamiliar man at that. He was struggling with something silently. The closer Gaby looked, she noticed that it was…a person. A rather tall person at that. She tried to get a better look, but found that she couldn’t. Another man came into view, struggling with another, smaller person. Were these…scientists that they were trying to capture?

“Stop making such a racket,” the one with a smaller weight hissed.

“Easy for you to say, you got the smaller one,” the other one hissed.

“There’s still one more. Be on the lookout.”

“I hear she’s a girl, nothing to worry about.”

Gaby bit her lip, staying perfectly still. Were they…talking about her? She looked closer at the bodies. She could make out Napoleon and Illya’s faces. What had they done to capture both of them? And they were still looking for her? She calmed herself down with a few breaths. She had to pay attention, follow them, help her partners. That was her job. Ghost or no ghost. From the looks of things, it really seemed like there was no ghost to be seen. Still, how were they accomplishing all of these tricks?

They walked past her line of sight, but she listened closely. They went to a nearby door, shoving it open. That must have been the door that refused to open for her…The door slammed closed after they went inside. Gaby slowly closed the door, allowing herself to collect her thoughts before she moved forwards. She had to follow those two, find out where they were taking Illya and Napoleon.

But she couldn’t just barge into that room, now could she? They were still inside, even if there was some kind of trap door or…whatever. She would have to wait…

She frowned. That wasn’t good enough. If Napoleon or Illya had seen her get dragged away, they’d rush forward to help. Then again, Illya had his brute strength and Napoleon had all of the cunning in the world. Gaby was strong and cunning, yes, but not anywhere near them. She huffed. She would have to get around to it a different way. She could continue searching, hopefully find something.

Those two had been through a lot, they could surely handle a couple of people pretending to be ghosts.

She carefully opened the door and silently began looking through the rooms nearby, listening closely for the sound of anyone else moving around aside from her. It wouldn’t do any good if she got caught as well. She just had to wait for the right moment to strike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, there is, like, no dialogue in this chapter. Aside from the baddies. I’m surprised myself. But, hey, they’re spies, they’re not gonna have a lot of conversations in the middle of the night in a ‘haunted’ school, now are they? And Illya and Napoleon have been captured! Gasp! Whatever will happen to our heroes now?
> 
> You’ll find out in due time, I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

Napoleon was very aware of his headache as he opened his eyes and groaned. Damn, he was hoping he wouldn’t fall like that again…He was aware that he was sitting up, so that was a plus, but his arms were behind him. Connected by handcuffs it seemed. He looked around the room as he woke up. It was still dark, which was good, and he was in a lab. It looked just like any ordinary lab, by the looks of it. Beakers, test tubes…nothing out of the ordinary.

“Are you finally awake, Cowboy?” Illya asked and Napoleon blinked. Well, that was a surprise. He was directly behind him and when Napoleon looked over his shoulder, he could see that he was sitting back-to-back with Illya.

“Yeah,” Napoleon sighed, turning back to facing the front. This could be relatively easy for him to get out of, just picking some locks. It was just a matter of getting a pick to this lock… The chairs they were sitting in had holes in the back, where their wrists stuck through. He tried moving his right hand to see how long the chain was and was…surprised when the chain caught on something else. “Peril.” Napoleon sighed as he tried his other hand, the same result. He glanced over his shoulder again and caught Illya’s eye as they both stared at the fact that they were, in fact, hand cuffed to each other. From what Napoleon could tell, their feet were in the same shape.

“Someone does not want us to move,” Illya muttered.

“But someone does want us alive,” Napoleon shook his head. It was obvious that the gun he had on him, along with most of the equipment he came with, were gone. But he was sure the little pick in his pocket was still there. That would make it rather easy to get out…but still… “We’re going to need to work together on this.”

“What is your plan?” Illya asked.

“I’ve probably got a pick in my pocket,” Napoleon said as he began to squirm, hoping to worm the little piece of metal onto the chair, that way he could reach it a little easier. “Once I get it in my hands, it should be easy from there.

“I cannot help you move much,” Illya stated.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not quite flexible,” Napoleon smirked, wincing as the handcuffs dug into his hands as he leaned further in the chair, hoping that the pick would just fall onto the chair, already!

“You seem to be,” Illya noted with slight amusement and Napoleon rolled his eyes. He heard a familiar, small clatter and smiled triumphantly, returning to a proper sitting position. Napoleon had to stay on guard, though, looking around just in case someone tried to check on them. It was already curious that no one was around.

Napoleon slowly wormed one of his hands so that it could swiftly pick up the pick and he sighed with relief. Easy from here on out.

He nearly dropped the pin when he heard the screech above them. He did, however, flinch. He looked around, but no one was around. He only just remembered the visage of the girl that appeared before he’d fallen unconscious and he shivered.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared,” Illya scoffed.

“Don’t tell me you’re not,” Napoleon muttered under his breath. He moved the pin around carefully until it was finally in the keyhole for the cuff. The lights started flickering, the screaming not stopping. It sent a shiver down his spine, but he continued to work. This was what he was good at. They could get out of this in just a minute.

A familiar click and the restraint opened on his wrist and he sighed with relief, quickly going to the other wrist. The glass test tubes and cylinders were staring to shake and he wasn’t getting a good feeling from this.

Once his other hand was free, he was quick to work on his ankles. Thankfully, Illya wasn’t pestering him, so he made quick work of those as well. He stood up and stretched, but flinched as the glass began to shatter.

“Quick,” Illya said, holding out his wrists, which were still attached to the handcuffs, a rather humorous position for him to be in. Napoleon worked quickly as the glass continued to shatter around them, once again thankful for the fact that he had his suit to protect him.

“Okay, let’s go,” Napoleon nodded, more than ready to run out of the door to that classroom as fast as possible. He didn’t quite want to entertain the idea of ghosts all that much, but this was just ridiculous! He quickly ran up to the door, but found that the door was…jammed. The lights were flickering above his head, making it extremely difficult to see, and the screaming was definitely putting him on edge.

“Would you like me to try?” Illya offered with a smug smirk. He wasn’t even slightly scared, was he? Napoleon stepped back, motioning for Illya to give it a try. Knowing him and his innate strength, they’d be out of there in no time…

Napoleon glanced into the room and frowned when he noticed something…odd. There was no more glass to shatter, but the screams continued. He walked further inside the lab as Illya experimentally pushed his shoulder into the door.

“I say we try our hands at a different exit,” Napoleon said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Illya glanced at him and Napoleon nodded his head to what he’d found. A table had been poorly moved over what looked awfully close to a wooden trap door. Someone had been in a hurry. Napoleon looked at Illya with a shrug.

“This gets more ridiculous by minute,” Illya shook his head, shoving the table to the side. The shrill screeching subsided and the lights rested in darkness. Napoleon didn’t quite like the complete silence, either. He opened the door and Napoleon shivered. Stone steps in to the basement?

“Are they trying to be a Hollywood movie?” Napoleon tried joking, but then remembered just who he was with. Well…Gaby would have appreciated the joke. He did hope that she was alright, there was no telling how long the two had been knocked out for.

“If they’re hiding anyone, it’s in there,” Illya nodded, already stepping into the deeper darkness. Napoleon rolled his eyes, but he didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he followed after him. It was a lot colder down there. He stayed close to Illya and it grew harder and harder to see as they got further down.

Finally, there was a shallow light at the end of the stairs and Napoleon let out a small sigh of relief.

* * *

Gaby slunk around the lab, looking out for any kind of clue or hint as to where to go. It was stiflingly freezing in the room, leading her to believe that shew as looking in the right place. Then again, that was just a hunch. She knelt low as she rummaged through the objects on the desk.

As she walked, nearing the far end of the room, a tile on the floor made an…odd noise. Hollow, almost. He stepped back, her heel making a familiar, normal noise. Then she moved forward and her heel echoed. She stepped around, finding that the tiles made the same noise in an even square.

She smirked, kneeling down to see if she could pry a tile off of the ground. It came off easily, exposing an inky darkness below her. Okay, then… After she had gotten all of the tiles off, she could see rather sinister stairs leading down into darkness. Well, she wouldn’t get anything done just standing around. With a quick look over her shoulder, she descended down the stairs. She moved slowly, hoping not to fall and give away her position. Finally, she could see a faint light at the end of the staircase and moved a little faster.

There was a hallway at the end of the stairs that sent shivers down her spine. It was a long, stone hallway, almost like catacombs or a dungeon. Strange… There were torches and thick wooden doors lining the walls and she sighed heavily. When did this turn into a Hollywood movie?

She advanced slowly, careful to make sure that she didn’t make too much noise walking or breathing or thinking. She was still new to this whole spy thing, after all. When she reached the first door on her right, she curiously opened it. It squeaked loudly in the quiet corridor, but no one was around or even inside. Curiously, inside, there was a desk with papers and equipment littered on it. She moved forward to investigate and discovered that there were…handcuffs on the legs of the chair, which was solidly connected to the ground.

The notes were covered in scientific symbols she couldn’t understand, but it had her curious. She left the room, closing the door quietly, before going to the next. A similar room. Though the notes were similar, they were slightly different, enough to make Gaby think that they were working on different things…whoever ‘they’ were…

She looked through all of the doors down the hallway, finding all of them to hold the same interior. Some even had dried blood on the floors…Interesting.

Eventually, the doors ended and there was a turn in the hallway, where it got progressively darker. She could see a door ahead, with a single torch nearby. Well, that would have to be her next destination. She could clearly hear footsteps, however, coming from ahead. The turn continued past the door, in a way that Gaby couldn’t see who was on the other side. She moved ahead quietly, wincing at the faint sound her own steps made.

She kept close to the wall, her thoughts going to her gun. If she was careful and quiet, she could sneak up on them, but a gun in this kind of place? She would go deaf!

She continued forward a little nervously, but just as she was about to turn the corner, hopefully attack, someone swiftly turned in front of her, placing a large hand over her mouth. She nearly screamed, but thought better. And then looked up into familiar blue eyes and she sighed with relief. Illya seemed surprised as he slowly moved his hand off her mouth.

“How did you get down here?” Illya asked immediately.

“Well, that’s quite the surprise isn’t it?” Napoleon smirked, leaning against the wall nearby. They were speaking in quiet voices still.

“I found a hole in the ground of one of the labs,” Gaby said. “I saw you two get dragged away, how did you get out?”

“You’re asking that to one of the world’s leading thieves that can pick a lock in his sleep?” Napoleon smirked. “So, what now?”

“What was back there?” Illya asked.

“Study rooms,” Gaby shrugged. “The chairs are bolted to the ground with handcuffs around the legs. I don’t understand the notes, they’re about some kind of science.”

“This might be where the scientists have gone off to,” Napoleon mused.

“We should keep going,” Illya said, turning to the door. “You haven’t gone in?”

“I was just about to,” Gaby shook her head as they stepped closer. Napoleon checked around them as they neared the door. Illya opened it slowly, looking in. It was still lit by torches, and it was a rather long hallway with nothing to it, just walls. “What do you think this place was?”

“In the Midwest?” Napoleon shook his head. “I can only imagine. I’ve heard of civilizations in Europe building over old cities, but this?”

“Maybe someone wanted a castle a hundred years ago,” Gaby said with an amused smirk.

“A castle underground?” Illya asked.

“Maybe,” Gaby shrugged. “It looks like a dungeon, regardless.”

They moved slowly down the hallway, Napoleon closing the door behind them. Illya still walked ahead, just in case. There was no telling what they would find here. It only seemed to get weirder from here.

Illya reached the door first and started to open it slowly, but a massive gust of wind flung it open towards them, nearly knocking them all off their feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And cliffhanger! Yay! This one took a while and it’s so slow, but whatever. We’re nearing the end here, so look forward to that. For now, we can enjoy the confusion. And what about that ghosty? Where has it gone off to? What will happen to the heroes now?
> 
> Enough of me dorking around. See you next time.


	5. Chapter 5

Illya froze where he lied on the ground, ready to defend himself against any attack he could possibly receive. By the time he was on his feet, the screams filled his ears to the point where he couldn’t hear anything else. Ahead of him was almost pitch blackness, but the gust of wind was still powerful, still nearly blowing him off of his feet. What could be doing this?

He stepped forward. He was going to find out. As he moved forward carefully into the darkness, the howling sounded frantic, like the screams of the damned. But Illya continued, this was just some trick that they were playing to make them leave. Well, it wasn’t going to work on him.

As he walked forward, he saw something coming close to him in the darkness… The closer the came, the more he noticed that it was moving towards him as well. He tensed, ready for a fight. What approached him was…white, like a sheet. But the edges of it misted around, like steam. He could see the image clearer now…a woman. White hair blowing in the breeze and pitch black eyes, blood pouring from her mouth and onto the ground.

Illya stumbled slightly. No…this…this was a trick. That couldn’t be a real…ghost… No, they did not exist. But as it grew nearer, the screeches getting impossibly louder and louder, Illya felt himself step back. The ghost moved quickly, making to slam into Illya. He shut his eyes as it seemed to go through him, a chill going right down his spine, colder than even the wind around him. He shivered, turning around. The ghost was nowhere to be seen.

When he turned around, he could see the ghost coming at him again. He didn’t have anything to fight with that could possibly work against a…a…ghost…

Suddenly, the lights flashed on and Illya was temporarily blinded. When he blinked his eyes, he saw, at the end of the previously dark hallway, a massive fan and a…projector? Napoleon stood near the light switch that laid proudly against the wall. This room wasn’t like the others, it looked just like any other college campus room, desks lined on either side of the wall and out of the way. Illya blinked.

“Well,” Gaby sighed heavily. “That proves that this was all just tricks, right? You were right, Illya.”

Illya shook his head lightly, walking over to the other end of the room to investigate the projector, which was still going.

“You a little scared, Peril?” Napoleon smirked and Illya didn’t even offer him a glance. He looked through the film in the projector. They were images of the woman he’d seen, coming closer and closer to the viewer. He shook his head. It was all tricks! There was no such thing as ghosts… “Come on, admit it. You thought there really was a ghost for a while there.”

“We should keep moving, whoever set this up cannot be very far,” Illya looked around, taking note of the speakers set up around the room for the sound of the screams.

“You were scared,” Gaby smirked, walking ahead with Napoleon. Illya rolled his eyes and continued past the equipment and into the next room, where the door was ajar. The room was a mess, tables overturned and papers scattered. He could hear footsteps if he listened close enough. He continued through to the next door, which he found was locked.

“Gaby, do you still have your gun?” Napoleon asked lowly. Illya looked back in time to see Gaby nodding and Illya nodded back. They would have to work with that. Illya could certainly fight on his own, but Napoleon’s hand-to-hand combat skills were slightly lacking. They could do with this, however.

Illya slammed his shoulder into the door roughly, finding that it already caved slightly. Only a few more rough shoves and the door came free. As he stumbled forwards, he looked up to see a small group of men in suits along with a larger group of men, all of whom were disheveled. They were just opening a door, a man stepping out. There was banging on the closed doors.

The men in suits squared up to fight, the other men huddled behind them. They all poised guns in their direction. Illya moved protectively in front of Gaby.

“Nobody move,” one of the men shouted. “We’ll just get out of your hair and be on our way.” He was more in front of the others and had a voice of authority. He was the leader of this group…

“Gaby,” Napoleon muttered quietly. “Shoot his leg.” Illya clenched his jaw. He didn’t doubt that she could shoot and shoot well, but he doubted her ability to get out of the way under gunfire.

But Gaby fired anyway, stepping around Illya to get a good shot. The others fired shortly afterwards, their leader tumbling to the ground. Illya all but tackled Gaby to the ground to protect her and the gun clattered with them. Napoleon stooped low to pick it up and fired a few more shots at the men, though only one met its target in a man’s stomach.

The men started running again. Illya was fast to get to his feet again, racing after the men, who had all but forgotten the other, disheveled men around them in their haste. Illya shoved past the forgotten men, racing after the others. They were slow due to their leader limping and both injured men left a trail of blood. They’d made it up the stairs and into the cool night air before Illya caught up to them and acted on instinct.

He tackled the leader to the ground, taking two other men with him.

“Don’t move,” Illya commanded, his arm solidly across the man’s neck. “I will press down.”

The leader struggled to breathe, his hand going up to tell the men to back down. Illya glanced around to make sure that the men were setting their guns down. The sun was only just beginning to rise above the horizon. It had been a long night, hadn’t it?

Napoleon and Gaby ran up behind him. Whoever had the gun was evidently doing their best to intimidate the others.

“Well, I’d say this turned out rather well, don’t you think?” Napoleon offered and Illya rolled his eyes.

* * *

Napoleon hummed contentedly as he poured himself a drink at his personal bar. He’d be leaving this apartment soon, so he was going to enjoy the little time he still had. Gaby had already had her fair share of vodka, saying she’d more than earned it, and Napoleon was feeling the same about his scotch. Illya, as usual, had declined alcohol.

“Well, I’d say this was a success,” Napoleon smiled, turning around with his glass to look at the other two agents on the couch. They were all rather tired after the long night and Gaby looked about ready to fall asleep where she sat. Illya looked calm as ever, but Napoleon couldn’t help but smirk. He’d seen real fear in the man’s eyes when he thought that there really was a ghost. “Still don’t believe in ghost stories, Peril?”

“Be quiet,” Illya said harshly.

“Well, we proved that it was all tricks,” Gaby laughed slightly. “Just some Hollywood smoke and mirrors, right?”

“They were pretty impressive mirrors,” Napoleon smirked. There were projectors and speakers and fans and fog machines littered around campus to give the proper affect and scare all of the campus. The stone section was mostly a well-made set, set in place to scare away any prying eyes that would just think of it as a ghost’s hovel. It was a massive set up, all for the sake of keeping secrets away from the public. “The police will have a hell of a time cleaning all of it away.”

“I told you it was a trick,” Illya shook his head. “You two insisted that it really was a ghost.”

“You have to admit that you believed for just a second,” Gaby smiled.

“Irrelevant,” Illya sighed.

“You don’t deny it?” Napoleon asked with a quick sip of his drink. Damn did it feel good after such a long night. It was easily the middle of the day and they hadn’t had any sleep aside from the flight over. Maybe some rest would do them all good. But they hadn’t gotten work from Waverly yet about their next job. They would have to wait for that first.

“Shut up, Cowboy,” Illya glared but Napoleon just offered a smile.

“We should work on your aim, though, Gaby,” Napoleon sighed, sitting down on a nearby armchair. “Once we can.”

“I thought that was a good shot,” Gaby mused, almost offended. “I didn’t even hit an artery so he would live.”

“Yes, but you hesitated and shook just before you shot,” Napoleon sighed.

“How could you tell?” Gaby scoffed. “That was just a second.”

“You learn to pick up things quickly,” Napoleon shrugged easily, taking a rather large gulp of his drink. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn how to shoot straight in no time.”

They heard a knock at the door and Illya was the first to stand. A letter slid under the crack of the door and he knelt down to pick it up, already opening it before he stood up fully.

“Waverly will meet us in London for next mission,” Illya said simply and Napoleon downed the rest of his scotch. He pulled out plane tickets and scowled. He must have gotten business class again.

“We best get going, then,” Napoleon smiled, standing up and placing his now empty glass on the coffee table.

“London should be interesting,” Gaby mused.

* * *

Back at the university, under the science labs, there was an old section hardly used anymore. Custodians were afraid to use it for storage after hearing all of the stories about ghosts and ghouls lurking there.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, a single ghost happy in its solitude laid in contentment. Long, snow white hair flowing in an invisible breeze, cobalt eyes staring into nothing, and blood dripping from her mouth.

She hoped she wouldn’t have to scare away anyone else in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I’m done! (Sorry it took so long to get the last chapter up...) It happened a lot faster than I would have liked, but there wasn’t a lot to write in this last part, I guess. So, whatever. Anyway! It was the baddies that kidnapped the scientists and they set up elaborate traps to scare people away from finding out, but how much of all of this charade was actually the ghost? Did Illya actually come in close contact with this hidden ghost? We may never know! How spoopy.
> 
> Anyway! Happy Halloween/October to you all! Have fun kiddos!


End file.
